The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-10-14

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the man made q clean breast of his
purposes, and threw himself on the
mercy of Gen. Bragg. He said that
he was an Englishman; that his heart
was not in the cause, and he hoped
by giving information To the o1oIay
to be rewarded with facilities for get
ting out of the country.
Bragg, in his cold-blooded way, re-
marked; II can provide those myself.
and at once. Here, Colonel, dispense
with the preliminaries of q court-mar-
tial; order a detail and have this man
shot," In all such cases Bragg was
merciless, and an Egyptian sphinyx
could not be more dumb to prayer or
tho agony OF tears.
Still he was not without a sense of
humor or q stranger to kind offices.
A soldier who had been favored with
a leave of absense t~elegraphed to his
General that he had been married a
weekand desired an extension othis fur
Tough, The application, taEing the us
ual course, finally came to the handsot
Bragg, who, ~scanningit for q moment.
and ascertaining that the man had
always done his duty bravely, wrote
on the back: t'Your leave is extend
ed for thirty days. See Deuterono-
my, chapter Xxx, verse z; also chap
ter XIV, verse g." When this re-
SPONGE was received the Bible was in.
stantly called into requisltion, and
the following quotations were found:
"And what man is there that hath
betrothed q wife and had not taken
her."
The second reference read;
"When a man had taken a new
WIFE, he shall not 60 out to war, neith-
er shall he be charged with any bust
ness; but he shall be free at home one
year and shall cheer up the wifs that
he hath taken"
A PTTIFUL DEATH.
Another execution which the writer
witnessed in the western army was
that of O. cavalryman, q Tennessean,
who had deserted, not to the enemy,
but who had simply gone home to see
his wife and little ones. The case was
a sad one, for his family were in dis
tressj yet the stern court-martial de-
manded his death as an example. 1t
was not until the morning OF his exc
cution that the poor fellow became
aware of the day or hour that was to
terminate his career, but he had pre-
pared for the crisis, and when the fact
was announced, he neryed himself to
brave death in whatever shapeit may
appear. This composure ney left
him.
Reaching the place of execution,
which was in q field adjoining the n
campment of bis old command, the
cortege halted in front of a black cot.
fin, behind which was a stake. The
guard alighted, and the prisoner,
strong and buoyant, as if he was the
least among the actors of the drama,
leaped lightly from the wagon
and took his seat upon the narrow
box that was soon TO enclose him for.
ever. An officer then advanced and
bound him firmly by the arms, with
his back to the stake. The prisoner
was clad in an everydavs suit Of civil
liam clothes, with his breeches care
lessly tucked in the top OF his boots,
and as he sat there watching the pre-
paration for the tragedy, looking up
on the faces of his old comrades, with
whom he had been associated in camp
and field, alone and helpless. with the
agony OF death SO near and eternity
already opening to his vision, and the
acutest observer would have failed to
detect any Indication of tremor on
his person. Stern, strong, calm as a
statue, he waited until the regiment
had filed into position before him.
After the lapse of FIVE or six minutes
came the squad of ten who were to
act as his executioners, and halted
twelve PAGES distant. Then the Ad-
jutant of the regiment advanced and
read the verdict of the court-martial,
and this being finished, one of the
guard approached for the purpose OF
tying a handkerchief over The face Of
the prisoner. A glance Of his eyes up
ward, as If it we're invoking divine
mercy. a preceptible change OF coun-
tenance, and IN expression OF unit.
terable sadness, told OF the fearful
struggle that was going on within. A
moments pause, and the officer to
command gave the order: nReady,
aim"-twelve rifles, six with blank
cartridges, we're bearing on the prison
er's heart, and the click OF the trigger
left but q second between life and
death-"irel"
Hardly had the smothered word is
sued from the lips when the body 81
the unfortunate man, pierced by six
balls. shrunk convulsively from the
shock, the head dropped upon the
breast. and with a deep sigh told OF
an ebbing life. The surgeon Of the
regiment now advanced to feel the
pulse. and at the same instant
the Colonel exclaimed aAtten-
ton" Although a full hall minute
had elapsed, at the utterance of that
word, as if he was peering through the
darkness to take q long. last look at
the fading world. N dying man rails
ed his bandaged head, and turned it
slowly from side to side. Then it
dropped upon his breast and rested
there for several seconds, while the
awe-stricken spectators looked on